Tributes continue to pour in for Chadwick Boseman, who died last Friday after silently battling colon cancer for the past four years.  Most recently, LL Cool J honored the late actor in an impassioned speech on Wednesday.

Speaking to STROMBO on Apple Music Hits, the NCIS: Los Angeles star detailed the magnitude of Boseman’s passing and the legacy he leaves behind.

“He inspired Black people all around the world,” the rapper noted, according to Billboard, “He inspired people in general.”

However, despite all of Boseman’s accomplishments, the “I Need Love” artist explained what was truly remarkable about the late actor. 

“I think in a short period of time he became a true-to-life hero in his ability to kinda fight through what he was dealing with unbeknownst to the world is just unbelievable,” LL Cool J maintained, before taking note of the many barriers Boseman smashed through.

“Playing that character in Black Panther and changing the perception of how movies with Black leads can be treated worldwide, he proved that this whole idea that Blacks couldn’t sell internationally was a complete and absolute myth,” he remarked. “He debunked that myth on every level.”

LL Cool J says Boseman, “proved that it was just part of some sort of systemic bias that had kinda been baked in to society.”  

Black Panther collected a jaw dropping $1.3 billion during its global box office run in 2018, officially becoming the top-selling superhero movie in U.S. history at the time.  

The rapper says Boseman leaves an indelible mark on Hollywood for many reasons, but mostly because “People just thought no one could do that, and he just proved what could be done.”

By Megan Stone
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